


What A Catch!

by asterkiss



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Monster Falls, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-08 03:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14095923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asterkiss/pseuds/asterkiss
Summary: Mabel was a mermaid who didn't ask for much. In fact, all she pretty much wanted from her soulmate was a romantic first meeting where he would sweep her off her fins.Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Her soulmate didn't so much sweep her off her fins as he trapped her in a fish net.





	1. Catch of the Day

**Author's Note:**

> 'Everyone is born with the first words they'll hear from their soulmate tattoo'd somewhere on their skin' meets Monster Falls.

Mabel Pines was a mermaid.

Not that that was a big deal. The dimension she resided in was home to a wide assortment of creatures. Why her very best friend was a cervitaur! (His little nubby antlers were so cute!)

Being a mermaid was great, she couldn’t imagine being anything else. Her scales were the most prettiest pink and living underwater meant she got to befriend all the schools of fish and have first dibs on the best shells. She’d even adopted one of the pink pufferish and named him Waddles! 

Currently, Mabel was swimming along the deep rivers that ran through the thick forests in search of her best friend. Every so often she would boop her head through the surface and do a quick scan of her surroundings before returning underwater and carrying on. It was Hunting Season so she had to be careful and make sure she didn’t run into that nasty and mean- o _ h my god shiny thing!!! _

Mabel gasped, bubbles flying from her mouth as she turned around and made a bee-line for the shiny object resting on the riverbed. As she drew closer, it looked sort of like a framed hand-mirror? 

With a wide grin she reached out to grab it-

-and instantly found herself launched high into the air and trapped within a net.

Wait, what?

Mabel blinked rapidly, feeling slightly disoriented from having been snapped up out of the water so quickly. She peered around and realised she was in a large net held by rope to an overhanging tree branch. 

A heavy weight dropped in her stomach as she peered up at it, the realisation of the situation sinking in quickly.

“Oh no…” she whispered, clenching the mirror tightly.

Sudden laughter reached her ears and when Mabel turned her head, she saw a tall human male stepping out from behind a tree and grinning ear to ear. Wearing worn-out jeans and heavy-clad boots, a bright yellow jacket partially hid the checkered flannel shirt underneath. A large shotgun was slung around one his shoulders.

Mabel could only stare at him in fright.

As his laughter trailed off, the blond man gave her a gleeful look whilst tilting his head to the side to regard her. The excitement in his expression was undeniable. “Well, aren’t you the catch of the day!”

Mabel parted her lips to reply when-

Wait.

No.

Oh no no no no.

**HELL NO!**

Mabel sucked in a sharp breath of air and snapped her gaze down to the words written along the inside of her arm in messy scrawl. They matched his phrase word for word.

“No…” she whispered, feeling tears of frustration well up in her eyes as she snapped her head back up and pinned him with a ferocious glare. “No, it can’t be a jerk like you!” 

The smile dropped from his face instantly.

The pair continued to stare at one another. Her expression one of frustration and anger. His one of surprise and astonishment.

What evil deeds must she have carried out in a past life to be saddled with a  _ hunter _ for a soul mate?

The human stared at her for a long moment in silence before his expression eventually shifted, lips pressing into a tight line and gaze narrowing. He began to approach her, one gloved hand delving into one of the many pockets lining his jeans. 

When he pulled out an item that when pressed sprung out a blade, Mabel felt her heart leap into her throat.

“N-No…” she stuttered, trying to escape from the net but it was no use, it only swung helplessly at her attempts.

The human reached the river shore and stretching out one arm, grabbed the rope holding her net and yanked it towards him. Mabel let a yelp and for a moment their eyes met as he raised the knife.

Then he sliced the rope through.

Mabel dropped into the river with a splash and wasted no time in speeding through the water down-hill. Her heart was an erratic drum within her chest and only when she was safely within the small underwater cavern that she called home did she allow herself to pause.

Oh God, that had been  _ terrifying! _

She clasped her hands over her chest, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to steady her racing heartbeat. But, even when her heart was no longer trying to leap out of her chest, Mabel still found herself close to tears.

Opening her eyes, the mermaid looked down at the words that had been marked into her skin since birth with melancholy. She’d always assumed they were her soulmate’s attempt of a pick-up line.

She couldn’t have been any further from the truth.

It was then Mabel realised she still had the hand mirror in her grasp. Mabel gave it a look of disgust and threw it out of her cavern, allowing the current of the river to drag it away out of sight.

So much for her happily ever after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a bunch of short easy-to-read chapters following a soulmate/Monster Falls AU (I wanted to do both AUs and decided - hey, why not kill two birds in one stone?) There's no complicated plot or anything like that - those are left in my other ongoing works. 
> 
> Updates should be fairly regular since the chapters are short.


	2. Scales and Tails

The sun was setting below the tree tops as Mabel sat on a river embankment, tail still partially dunked into the water as she stared up at the pastel-coloured sky. She wasn’t entirely sure how long she’d been sat there lost in her thoughts. Long enough that the water had ceased dripping from her hair and torso and a dry tickling was just beginning to surface within her throat and gills.

So enraptured within her thoughts, the mermaid was oblivious to the heavy footfalls approaching her from behind from the trees. Oblivious until a hot and heavy breath fanned across her bare back that is. The brunette froze at the sensation and slowly turned her head around.

When she found herself staring into a pair of glowing amber eyes, the tension in her shoulders faded away.

“Geez Wendy, you scared me!”

The wolf-like girl grinned, canine fangs flashing as she leaned back and released a bark of laughter. “Sorry, sorry! You were totally away with the fairies, I wanted to see how close I could get to ya.”

Mabel snorted, rolling her eyes even as a smile broke out on her face. “As if I’d go away with the fairies, everyone knows those guys are just meanies.”

Wendy seated herself beside Mabel, dipping her own hind paws into the river with a blissful sigh as a gorgeous red tail swished casually behind her. “You looked pretty zoned out though, what’cha thinkin’ about to look so serious?”

Mabel opened her mouth to reply but faltered, pursing her lips together as she tried to collect the words together in her mind. A feat that was difficult when she didn’t want to acknowledge the statement herself.

“...I met my soulmate.”

“Seriously? Hey, that’s awesome! Up top!” Wendy raised a paw for her to high-five but when Mabel remained subdued and staring down into the river, the grin slowly left her face. “Or… not?” She dropped her arm. “Did something bad happen?”

Mabel pouted. “He’s a jerk.”

“Your soulmate is?”

A solemn nod.

“Oh geez, that sucks. I’m real sorry, Mabel, I know how eager you were about meeting yours. Are you sure you can’t get on with the dude? Not everyone has a happy first meeting - just ask Robbie.”

“It’s not the easy,” Mabel muttered as she averted her gaze. “He’s…”

“What?”

The words became tangled in her throat. After all, how could she so easily admit that her soulmate was a Hunter? From as young as she could remember, Mabel had always gushed about her “perfect future soulmate” to anyone within hearing range. She was pretty sure she’d annoyed the heck out of half the forest population by boasting about her fated significant other and how he would be more amazing than anything they could imagine.

Fate sure liked playing cruel tricks on her, didn’t it?

“...He’s awful,” Mabel said eventually.

She couldn’t admit it. Not yet anyway. Not until she’d figured out how she felt about the situation herself.

“Hmm...” Wendy’s ears twitched as she looked ahead into the forest with a thoughtful look and Mabel gave them a brief look of longing because she’d always wanted to scratch them. They looked so cute and fuzzy and they probably felt soft too. And that wasn’t even getting onto the matter of the fluffy tail-!

Maybe she could reach out and just touch them a tiny, little bit-

“...what do you think?”

Mabel gave her a blank look. “Huh?”

The weregirl rolled her eyes but didn’t reprimand her for not listening - not like a certain cervitaur surely would. “I was saying if this guy is your soulmate then he can’t be all that bad.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, think about it. If this guy really is your soulmate then he can’t be that awful otherwise there’s no way fate would have paired him up with someone as kind as you. Soulmates are two individuals who are perfect for each other. A guy who’s truly terrible wouldn’t be perfect for you, right?”

Mabel blinked up at her owlishly. “...Right.”

Wendy grinned and bumped her playfully on the shoulder. “So there you go then. It’ll be fine and work itself out, so don’t worry too much alright?”

Mabel remained quiet for a moment, thinking the explanation over in her mind as she allowed it to sink it. Wendy was right. She was one of the nicest people in this forest - if fate had paired her up with this guy then he must have some good in him.

In fact, yeah, that must be it! The human had even let her go without a fuss. She still wasn’t entirely sure  _ **why**_  he’d released her but maybe that was a sign that he wasn’t all that bad! The mermaid suddenly felt ashamed for being ready to give up so easily - what happened to the reputation she had for being stubborn and persistent?

“Maybe I could try scoping him out again,” she mused aloud after a while.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” Wendy cheered with a slap to the back, her superior strength sending the mermaid flying back into the river. Mabel almost choked on the water in surprise, quickly deferring her breathing from her mouth to her gills.

When she resurfaced a few seconds later, she shot the werewolf a look.

“Hahaha, sorry, sorry!”

Mabel narrowed her eyes and used her arms to shove a large surge of water her way.

“Hahaha-  _hey!”_

Mabel stuck her tongue out playfully and soon the two ended up embroiled in a full-out water fight. As they laughed and giggled, Mabel made a mental note to get started on her soulmate follow-up first thing tomorrow morning.

She’d scope out this human in secret and find out a little more about him.

The hunted was going to become the hunter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you be saying the same thing if you knew who it was, Wendy?
> 
> I’m a little confused about werewolf!Wendy in Monster Falls since she’s portrayed as a wolf/human hybrid 24/7 and not just on the full moon which is typically what a “werewolf” is. But... oh well.


	3. Blood Payment

Unfortunately, hunting down her soul mate was difficult. Mabel was confined to the ocean that surrounded the perimeter of the island and the many deep rivers that ran through it, and so unless the Hunter happened to be in close proximity to one of those, she couldn’t exactly spy on him.

The mermaid ended up asking for help from a certain individual she tended to avoid.

Mabel watched as the bat sailed down from the dark sky above. When the creature was within a few feet of the ground it exploded into a large cloud of smoke which blew away to reveal none other than resident vampire Gideon Gleeful.

(Mabel coughed as the smoke blew across the water in her direction and dispelled it away with a wave of her hand).

“So?” she asked, voice hopeful. “Did you find the guy?”

The silver-haired boy nodded, looking rather proud of himself. “Mhhm, that I did. That fiend’s made camp up in the northern swamp.”

Urgh, swamp. It was always muddy up there. Mabel tended to avoid going in that direction unless she was meeting up with Candy.

Still, she was on a mission here. “Thanks, Gideon.”

“You are most welcome, m'lady. Now, as for payment?” He arched an eyebrow as he smiled expectantly, fangs flashing from beneath his lips.

Mabel grimaced. “...Alright fine, but don’t take too much.”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t dream of it, pumpkin!”

Mabel sighed in resignation and swam over to lean against the embankment, eager to get this over with. Gideon kneeled beside her, gently pushing her hair aside as he dropped his head down beside her throat.

When she heard the unmistakable sound of inhaled sniffing, she scowled. _“Gideon.”_

Embarrassed laughter. “Sorry, sorry, couldn’t resist myself. You smell as fresh as a daisy.”

She made a face.

The vampire gave another sheepish smile before lowering his head once more. His eyes flashed red as his fangs plunged into her throat and Mabel winced at the pain, fingers digging into the ground.

The brunette mentally counted to sixty within her head before shoving the vampire away and placing a hand over her neck protectively. “Alright, that’s enough!” 

Gideon stood and backed away, giving her a bow as he licked away a drop of stray blood from his lips. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, sweetcheeks. I’m always nearby if you ever need any more assistance.” A pause and he waggled his eyebrows. “Or perhaps a date-”

“Alright, thank you I’m leaving!” she loudly interrupted with a fake, cheery smile The mermaid dropped into the water and hastily swam away before he could say anything further.

Geez. Were all vampires that creepy?

* * *

It took Mabel half an hour to reach the swampy area up north and she made a face as she waded into its territory. The water was muddy and difficult to navigate through in the darkness even with her enhanced version so she took to waded through with her head above the surface (even though this meant the algae coating the water surface clung to her skin and hair in an annoying fashion).

When she spotted smoke rising above the trees ahead, she smiled. _Bingo._

Further head Mabel spotted a small campsite set up on land with a small crackling campfire lighting it up in the otherwise dark scenery. There were several trees within the swamp so Mabel hid behind one of those as she spied from around it discreetly. A small tent was placed beside the fire which was currently cooking some fish and- oh wow, that smelled really good actually. Mabel felt her stomach churn in protest and dammit, she was hungry now.

She'd just begun to drool when those thoughts were disrupted by the human stepping out of the tent, diverting her attention towards him immediately. He was shirtless, dressed in only his jeans and boots as he walked over towards a duffel bag and crouched down to rummage through it. The mermaid grimaced when he pulled out a bear trap to examine before shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

Okay, she could do this! Dammit, she had spent her entire life dreaming of a fairytale romance and she wasn't going to let this guy ruin it for her!! She was a great person who could win anyone over - hell, she'd even won Pacifica over after a good few years. This was just another challenge for her to rise up against.

(Though the fact it was her love life on the line did make her feel a tad nervous).

Taking in a deep breath for courage, Mabel left her secure spying spot and began to swim over through the darkness. When she was within ten feet of shore, she waved a hand in greeting and cleared her throat. "Hey, soulmate!"

The man snapped his head up abruptly, eyes locking with hers in surprise.

"So, uh, hey, I'm lost. Can you give me the directions to your heart?" she asked with a wink whilst giving two finger-guns. Nailed it.

The Hunter stared at her blankly for several seconds before his expression shifted into one of annoyance. Clenching his jaw, he quickly looked around before bending over and picking up a rock to— oh no.

Mabel ducked under the water with a yelp and moved out of the way just before he slung it out of his hands. She stared at the heavy rock as it sunk down into the muddy depths of the water before another joined it, just a few feet from her current position.

Time to abort.

Swimming further away to a location where the light from his campfire couldn't reach, Mabel resurfaced behind a tree and peered back. He was throwing further rocks into the water as he yelled various insults and warnings, very clearly worked up.

"-and stay the hell away unless you wanna become sushi, brat!"

Fingers digging into the soft bark beneath her hands, Mabel's face twisted as she watched her "soulmate" continue his onslaught to keep her away.

“Whoever’s writing my fairytale romance needs to be fired.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this fanfic verse 'Gravity Falls' is a large island whose landmass is almost entirely covered in forest.


	4. Fingers Crossed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Needed to get Dipper in here eventually.

Somehow, news had gotten out regarding the fact the Hunter was her alleged soulmate, and all the inhabitants of the island were in an uproar about it.

Mabel had no idea who the source of the gossip could be but they better hope she didn't find out their identity or there would be hell to pay—

“Is it true?”

The mermaid broke out of her thoughts, glancing up from her position against the river embankment to find a four legged creature slowly approaching her from the trees. Having the body of a deer combined with the torso of a human, the cervitaur regarded her passively as he awaited her response.

Instead, she avoided his gaze and purposefully looked aside.

That was all the answer he needed.

Dipper released a deep sigh. “Why didn’t you tell me, Mabel?”

She frowned.

“I know how much the whole soulmate thing meant to you. If you’d just told me when you found out, I would have helped you-”

“Helped me?” She snapped her head back up to regard him with wide eyes.

Dipper paused at her interruption before nodding. “Well, yeah. I know I’m not the best at the touchy-feely stuff, but I’ll always be there if you need to talk stuff out.”

Oh.

He meant help in _that_ way.

She visibly deflated, shoulders drooping.

The boy frowned at her reaction. “Why are you…” A pause. His expression froze. “Wait. Mabel, you can’t seriously be thinking of trying to make things work with that guy!?”

“Well…”

“He’s a Hunter!”

“He’s also my soulmate!” she shot back.

Both brunettes fixed one another with intense glares, neither backing down as electricity zapped between them. Mabel glowered at him as her fingers dug into the ground beneath her hands, mud sliding beneath her fingernails. He didn’t get it. Dipper had never bought into the ‘soulmates’ thing. Not once. He insisted it was ridiculous, that the idea of there being just one person fated for you was preposterous and invalid. 

But Mabel believed in it with all her heart.

“If he was really evil, he wouldn’t have let me go when he caught me,” she retorted. 

Dipper looked briefly surprised by that statement, then concerned. His lips pressed together in a tight grimace. “Mabel, he kills our kind.”

“That’s…” The mermaid trailed off, face falling as she was unable to find a way to refute it.

“Look, I’ll set you up with any guy on the island if that’s what it takes. Just please—stay away from him.”

The mermaid looked up to meet his gaze. He was staring at her so desperately that she felt her heartstrings tug.

If she was logical, she would give up and do as Dipper was saying. That was the rational thing to do.

…But she was scared.

She was scared of ending up alone. Of never finding anyone. Sure, she had Dipper and Wendy and all her other friends but was it so selfish of her to want to romance on top of that?

Some people chose to live their life with partners who weren’t their soulmates and got along fine. But nothing could compare to the happiness of being with your soulmate. Mabel had seen it first-hand and she wanted it—god did she want it so bad.

And she didn’t want to give up yet.

She’d dreamed of this for too long to let some stubborn jerk keep her from getting her happy ending—even if the jerk in question was her supposed Prince Charming.

“Mabel?”

“Hm?” Tuning back in, she found Dipper was regarding her with worry. Oh, right. Mabel didn't fancy arguing with him anymore, especially since they were both equally stubborn and refused to back down, so for now she plastered on a sad smile.

“Alright… you win, Dipper. I won’t go near him anymore.”

He broke into a smile of relief whilst readjusting the cap atop his head—his antlers were now beginning to come through and made balancing the hat difficult.

Mabel smiled back.

All the while, her fingers remained crossed behind her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda took the ending of this from the most recent DWTD chapter but oh well.
> 
> Aiming to get a timeskip in here within the next 2-4 chapters.


End file.
